Jonah’s column on the cult of self-esteem is full of good things. A few years back, I attended a School Board meeting in New Hampshire to discuss our grade school’s mission statement, the first line of which was a commitment to prioritize self-esteem by increasing it to Spinal Tap 11. I wound up leaving the room, sheepishly apologizing to my neighbors that I’d attended a school which, even though it was entirely unaware of the concept, operated on the basic educational principle that self-esteem should be lowered to undectable levels by the end of the first week. I felt like an imam being asked to recommend what level of bikini wax was appropriate for Britney when stepping out of a limo.

The late William Henry in his book on the subject back in the Nineties uncovered a magnificent banner hanging across the hall of a midwestern middle school: “We Celebrate Ourselves.” And not for the Latin scores.